A Service to Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies

Thursday, 7th May 2009

A Service to Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies took place at Westminster Abbey on 6th May 2009 at 11.00am.

The theme of the Service, reflecting that of the flower festival, was rejoicing in the glory of God’s creation. The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster, welcomed the members of the many flower arrangement societies throughout the United Kingdom in his Bidding, saying ‘We come to praise almighty God for his wonderful creation, to rejoice in the beauty of flowers, to celebrate the gifts of flower arrangers, and to delight in the fifty-year history and wide reach of the National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies’.

Pat Martin, Chairman, Westminster Abbey Festival of Flowers Committee 2009, read 1 Chronicles 16: 29–34, the NAFAS National President, Dorothy Irvin, read from Philippians 4, and Valerie Best, NAFAS National Chairman, read the poem Song of the Flower XXIII by Khalil Gibran. The Abbey’s Special Service Choir sang a setting of the Benedicite, a song of creation, by Malcolm Archer, and the Anthem was ‘For the beauty of the earth’ by John Rutter. The Dean gave the Address, and The Reverend Michael Macey, Minor Canon, led the Prayers. Robert Quinney, Sub-Organist, brought the service to a close with W T Best’s arrangement of Handel’s Organ Concerto in B flat Op 4 no 2.

The service marked the start of Rejoice, the third flower exhibition to be staged in Westminster Abbey since 1966.